Aging and Disease Volume 3(2), 156-163; April 2012 (Epub: 2011, September 22)

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Original article

Differential Age-related Changes in Bone Geometry between the Humerus and the Femur in Healthy Men

Matti D. Allen, S. Jared McMillan^1,2, Cliff S. Klein¹, Charles L. Rice^1,3, and Greg D. Marsh^1,4,*

¹School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

² Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

³ Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

⁴ Department of Medical Biophysics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

[Received August 22, 2011; Revised September 12, 2011; Accepted September 12, 2011]

ABSTRACT: Muscle pull and weight-bearing are key mechanical determinants of bone geometry which is an important feature of bone strength that declines with adult aging. However, the relative importance of these determinants in young and old adults has not been evaluated systematically. To differentiate the influence of each type of mechanical loading we compared humeral and femoral bone shaft geometry and cross-sectional area (CSA) of the arm and thigh muscles in young and old men. Contiguous transverse MRI (Siemens 1.5T) scans of the arm and thigh were made in 10 young men (21.9 ± 1.0 years) and 10 old men (78.1 ± 4.9 years). Image analysis yielded total (TA), cortical (CA) and medullary (MA) CSA of the humeral and femoral shafts, as well as muscle CSA of the corresponding regions of the arm and thigh. Humeral CA was significantly greater in the young, whereas humeral and femoral MA were significantly greater in the older group. Significant correlations were found between arm muscle CSA and humeral CA (r = 0.73); between thigh muscle CSA and femoral CA (r = 0.69); and between body mass and femoral CA (r = 0.63) and TA (r = 0.55). Moderate correlations between muscle CSA and CA suggest that muscle pull is an important determinant of bone geometry. The significant difference observed between young and old in humeral, but not femoral CA, and the correlation between body mass and femoral, but not humeral cortical area, suggests that weight-bearing attenuates bone loss associated with adult aging.

Key words: Aging; Femur; Humerus; Osteopenia; Osteoporosis; Muscle